A combination of tenants to refuse their rents on those Irish estates where the reductions demanded were not conceded. The tenants bound themselves to act together, and to make no separate arrangements with the landlord. If the reduction was refused, they then paid their rent into a common fund, to be used for the support of those who were evicted. The Plan was put into operation on forty estates. In April, 1888, it was pronounced unlawful by the Vatican. Platine States. The name given to the South American Republics bordering on the River Plate, namely, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Plébiscite. The submission of a question to the direct national vote, instead of to a vote of the elected representatives. It was adopted by Napoleon III after the Coup d’Etat of 1851, when he referred to the people the question of his assumption of the Imperial dignity. Plimsoll’s Act. The Merchant Shipping Act of 1876, passed owing to the efforts of Mr. Plimsoll on behalf of merchant seamen. It contains provisions preventing unseaworthy ships from leaving English ports, and regulates the load line and deck cargoes. The mark indicating the waterline of a fully loaded ship is known as the Plimsoll Mark. Plon-Plon. The nickname of Prince Napoleon, son of Jerome Bonaparte. It was given him during the Crimean war, and is a euphemism for Craint-Plomb (Fear Bullet). Pochi Danari. The Penniless, a nickname given by the Italians to the Emperor Maximilian I (1493-1519). Podestà. The chief magistrate in the Italian cities during the thirteenth century. He was elected annually by the citizens. In some cases his functions were purely judicial; in other cities he also exercised certain executive functions, including the control of the military forces. Poire, La. The nickname of Louis Philippe of France, whose face was usually portrayed by the caricaturists of the day in the shape of a pear. Poland, First Partition of. An arrangement arrived at in 1772 by Frederick of Prussia, Catherine of Russia, and Maria Theresa of Austria, by which Prussia obtained the whole of Polish Prussia, except Dantzig and Thorn; Austria annexed Galicia and Lodomiria; and Russia acquired all the territory between the Dwina, the Dnieper and the Drutsch. Poland, Second Partition of. At the close of the Polish Civil War in 1793, Prussia and Russia invaded Poland, and as a consequence added to their dominions--Russia 85,000 square miles of territory, and Prussia 21,000, together with the towns of Dantzig and Thorn. Poland, Third Partition of. The small remnant of the Kingdom of Poland was divided between Prussia, Austria and Russia after Kosciusko’s abortive rising in 1795. Policy, Council of. The local Council established at Cape Town in 1652 to govern the Colony under the General Council of the Dutch East India Company. It consisted at first of four members, but was enlarged to eight in 1685. Polish Note.